THE    PEACl^:    MOVEMENT    IN    BOSTON. 


By  Edwin  D.  Mead. 

R.jpi-inte.l  from  Xkw  ICx.-.i. vnij  Ma(;\/,in1',  April,   1.S99. 


T 


HE  Org-anizalion  of  the 
World"^'  is  the  subject  to 
which  a  series  of  important 
weekly  meetings  is  now  being  de- 
voted' in  Boston.  "The  Federation 
of  the  World"  is  the  subject  of  an 
important  book  just  published  in  Bos- 
ton. In  the  New  England  capital, 
where  so  many  great  movements  have 
been  born  or  ^fostered,  the  movement 
against  militarism,  which  Gladstone 
ten  3'ears  ago  rightly  named  "the 
most  conspicuous  tyrant  of  the  age," 
has  found  at  this  time  efficient  voice 
and  efficient  pen.  The  Boston  meet- 
ings have  been  arranged  by  the  Good 
Citizenship  Society,  which  well  de- 
dares  international  dtity  to  be  a  prime 
[actor  in  all  good  citizenship  to-day. 
'The  Boston  book  is  by  Dr.  Benjamin 
F.  Trueblood,  whose  lifelong  labors 
in  behalf  of  international  order  and 
fraternity  have  been  so  intelligent  and 
untiring. 

The  importance  of  this  subject  of 
the  better  organization  of  the  world, 
which  was  our  theme  in  these  pages 
in  our  Christmas  number,  has  never 
been  felt  so  deeply  by  thoughtful  per- 
sons as  it  is  felt  to-day.  Whatever 
the  various  feelings  of  various  men 
concerning  the  events  of  the  past 
year,  it  becom.es  clear  and  imperative 
to  all  that  the  civilized  nations,  whose 
industrial  interests  and  trade  relations 
are  now  so  complex  and  manifold,  and 
becoming  more  and  more  so  with 
such  rapidity,  should  be  brought  into 
closer  and  more  organic  legal  and 
political  relations.  The  methods  of 
war  do  not  befit  the  age ;  they  are  not 
adequate  or  proper  methods  for  the 
settlement  of  international  troubles 
and  disputes.  The  time  has  come  for 
civilization  to  take  a  great  step  for- 


ward.  The  feeling  in  Europe  upon 
this  subject  is  intense.  The  Czar's 
recent  manifesto,  calling  for  the  de- 
crease of  armaments,  is  a  memorable 
expression  of  this  feeling.  The  com- 
ing international  conference  at  the 
Hague  will  be  a  historic  event.  Its 
influence  and  results  will  be  largely 
determined  by  the  expression  of  pub- 
lic opinion  in  the  various  countries 
of  Christendom.  The  response  _  in 
England  is  inspiring  and  most  im- 
pressive. Not  since  the  day  of  Glad- 
stone's appeal  for  Bulgaria,  twenty 
'..ears  ago,  has  there  been  seen  in 
England  a  popular  movement  so 
noteworthy  as  the  present  Peace  Cru- 
sade, with  great  meetings  in  every 
city,  the  circulation  by  millions  of  the 
iournal  of  the  Crusade,  War  against 
'jVar,  and  the  words  from  the  great 
leaders  in  Church  and  State.  America 
should  not  be  behind  England  in  this 
great  movement :  and  she  will  not  be. 
In  Boston  a  Peace  Crusade  Com- 
mittee has  been  formed,  at  whose 
h.ead  stands  Edward  Everett  Hale, 
and  a  weekly  journal.  The  Peace 
Crtisadc,  has  been  established  as  an 
organ  of  the  movement,  to  be  pub- 
lished for  thre^  months.  The  rooms 
of  the  committee  are  at  i  Beacon 
Street,  and  from  this  centre  during 
th.ese  months  the  literature  will  be  cir- 
culated and  correspondence  directed. 
The  Boston  meetings  are  held  in 
Tremont  Temple  on  Mondav  noons. 
At  the  opening  meeting  Dr.  Hale 
spoke  on  "A  Permanent  International 
Tribunal."  The  further  programme 
includes  Samuel  Gompers,  president 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
on  "Organized  Labor's  Contributior 
to  International  Peace";  Rev.  Lymar 
Abbott,    on    "International    Brother- 


THE    PEACE   MOVEMENT   IN    BOSTON. 


lood" ;  and  a  meetinc:  in  the  hands  of 
he  women,  to  be  adch-essed  by  Mrs. 
JuHa  Ward  IIowc,  Mrs.  Mary  A. 
Liverniore,  Mrs.  AUc-  Frcenir'n 
Pahner  and  others.  Other  meetings 
vill  undoubtedly  follow.  While  these 
neetings  are  in  prosfress  in  Boston 
similar  meetings  will  be  organized  in 
Dther  places  in  Massachusetts.  It  is 
loped  that  in  every  large  city  there 
vill  be  such  meetings  ;  earnest  citizens 
;vcrywhere  have  been  asked  b\-  the 
3ood  Citizenship  Society  to  act  in 
he  matter.  The  ministers  of  all  the 
Massachusetts  churches  have  been 
isked  to  make  tliis  momentous  sn';- 
ect  the  th.cme  of  pulpit  discourse.  In 
he  churches,  in  the  press,  and  in 
;verv  inrtucntial  wav.  it  is  trusted  that 
Vlassachusetts  and  New  England  will 
.how  that  conspicuous  interest  in 
his  commanding  cause  whicli  they 
lave  so  often  showed  in  what  most 
;oncerns  the  interest  of  mankind.  The 
novement  thus  inaugurated  here  will 
luickly  spread,  we  are  sure,  to  the 
vhole  country ;  for  throughout  the 
:ountry  earnest  men  and  women  are 
eeling  that  it  is  the  movement  whose 
lecessity  and  claim  to-day  are  para- 
nount.  In  New  York  and  Phila- 
lelphia  and  Chicago  leading  men  are 
dready  moving;  and  we  are  confident 
hat  before  the  conference  meets  at 
he  Hague  the  expression  of  public 
)pinion  in  America  will  be  as  wide- 
pread  and  impressive  as  it  is  in  Eu- 
ope.  * 

Most  impressive  was  the  first  of 
he  meetings  in  l^joston,  on  the  lust 
:Ionday  in  March.  A  thousand  men 
.nd  women  gathered  at  that  noon 
lOur.  Chorley's  great  hynni,  "(Tlvc 
o  us  peace  in  our  time,  O  L'.rd/" 
vas  sung,  from  the  noble  little  r<il- 
ection  of  a  score  of  •'llvmns  for  the 
""eace  Crusade."  whicli  has  l)ecr. 
irinted  in  a  leaflet  to  serve  the  move 
iient ;  and  Dr.  Hale  gave  his  stirring 
ddress. 

It  was  especially  fitting  and  notc- 
vorthy  that  Dr.  Ilalc  should  have 
icen  present  at  this  first  peace  meet- 


ing and  l)eeii  its  chief  speaker.  Three 
vears  ago  (July,  1896)  we  devoted  our 
editorial  pages  to  a  discussion  of  Dr. 
Hale's  preeminent  services  in  behalf 
of  a  permanent  international  tribunal. 
That  was  just  after  the  great  arbitra- 
tion conference  at  Washington.  At 
that  conference  it  was  remem1)ered 
tliat  in  a  sermon  on  "The  Twentietii 
Century,"  [)renched  in  Washington 
lialf  a  dozen  vears  before.  Dr.  Hale 
had  outlined  in  clear  and  hill  detail 
lliC  idea  of  a  permanent  tribunal  as 
the  rational  substitute  for  the  method 
of  v.ar  in  tlie  world.  His  words  were 
read  bv  Senator  Edmunds,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  confeicence.  as  a  remark- 
able prophecy  of  the  things  for  whose 
promotion  the  conference  was  assem- 
bled. Dr.  Hale  sat  on  the  platform 
;!S  his  iM-ophctic  words  were  read.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  lie  will  live  to 
see  his  prophecy  far  on  the  road  to 
fulfilment.  In  England  and  every- 
where where  men  arc  d^iscussing  the 
coming  conference  at  the  Hague, 
they  are  seeing  and  saying  that  the 
demand  for  disarmament  must  be  ac- 
companied by  the  demand  for  a  regu- 
lar international  tribunal.  Dr.  Hale 
lias  kept  on  proposing  this,  with  iter- 
ation and  reiteration,  on  ever)'  occa- 
sion and  by  every  means — the  speech, 
the  sermon,  the  magazine,  the  news- 
paper— during  the  last  ten  years.  In 
this  year  of  grace  he  has  spoken  of- 
tener  and  with  greater  force  in  the  in- 
terests of  this  cause  than  any  other 
man  in  America — we  had  almost  said 
than  all  otlier  men.  In  a  recent  fort- 
night, travellin?:  th.rough  large  towns 
in  the  Middle  States,  he  spoke,  we 
think,  every  night,  with  a  vigor  and 
devotion,  at  threescore  and  fifteen, 
which  ])ut  younger  men  to  shame. 
Oil  (jiie  Suiula\-  he  addressed  in  the 
nun'ning  a  great  congregation  in  New 
York,  in  the  evening  one  as  great  in 
[Miiladelphia.  On  tlie  Monday  morn- 
ing he  was  inspiring  the  Philadelphia 
editors  to  service,  and  one  of  them, 
Herbert  Welsh,  wrote: 

•Dr.  Edward    1'..  Hale,  tliat  knight-errant 
of  ali  things  Rocul.  and  especially  of  prom- 


THE    PEACE   MOrEMEXT   L\    BOSTOX. 


ising  causes  in  present  need  of  a  defender, 
stepped  into  our  editor's  room  last  Mon- 
day morning  with   a  word   in   behalf  of   a 
project   to    which    he    is    devoting    several 
months  of  his  invaluable  lime.     Dr.  Hale, 
as    everybody    knows,    is    a    lifelong    re- 
former  and    enthusiast:    but   he    does    not 
suggest   or    press    on    their    course    things 
chrmerical    or    that    are    without    practical 
value.     It  is  said  of  him  that  he  has  ini- 
tiated or  lent  a  hand  to  more  good  causes 
than    any    living    man.    and    we    can    v.'ell 
credit  the  assertion.     He  is  working  now, 
in  the  evening  of  a  long  and  most  fruit- 
ful life    v/ith  all  the  enthusiasm  of  you.h. 
and   with  a   superb   negli.gence   of  hunself. 
for  a  great  project  lluit  is  just  as  sure  lo 
come  as  the  twentieth  century  dawns— the 
establishment     of     an      international     law- 
court      Just  as  certain  as  that  the  reign  oi 
law  has  spread  its  blessed   influence  over 
re"-ions  of  human  activity  once  dark  and 
bloody  with  unchristian  strife  and  discord 
is  it  that  ultimately  it  will  enter  and  con- 
trol this  last  refuge  of  anarchy.    The  signs 
are    evident    that    reason    and    justice    and 
law   will    in   this   international    realm    sup- 
plant   the    awful    arbiter    that    now    deter- 
mines   tuo    many    national    disputes    and 
crushes  to  the  earth  whole  peoples  by  die 
weight   of   military   preparation.      But   Dr. 
Hale  wants  to  bring  that  happy  day  to  the 
v.'orld  sooner  than   it  will   come  if  he  and 
others     stay     foolishly     content     with     the 
'  present.     It  is  a  day  that  he  may  not    and 
probably    will    not,    live    to    see.      Ail    the 
finer    then,  is  the  picture  of  this  grand  old 
nian'  at  a  time  of  life  when  most  of  us  lose 
faith  in  the  future,  or  at  least  wish  to  be 
free  from  its  burdens,  serenely  putting  on 
his  harness  afresh  in  the  service  of  a  great 
cause.     Dr.  Hale's  example  ought  to  make 
some    strong    men    in    this    city    feel    very 
much  ashamed  of  their  infidelity  to   good 
causes,   and   of  the   misuse  or  lack   oi   use 
of    great    talents    and    opportunities.      But 
where  he  leads  surely  there  will  be  many 
to    follow;    many    wlio,    like    him,   though 
loyal  citizens  of  the  United  States,  are  m 
this  respect  willing  to  render  obedience  to 
the  authority  of  the  Russian  Czar  in  trying 
to  advance  the  sway  of  peace  and  law  be- 
tween   nations.   The  cause  which  Dr.  Hale 
represents   is   certainly   as   hopeful   as   that 
of     antislaverv     seemed     to     be     in     Eng- 
land when   Wilberforce.   or  in  the   United 
States    when    Garrison    and    Phillips,    fa-st 
advocated  it.     We  wish   Dr.   Hale  success 
in  his  pilgrimage,  and  we  believe  there  are 
thousands  among  us  who  will  esteem  it  a 
great  honor  to  help  him  win  it." 


It  was  a  beautiftil  fatality  by  which 
Cliorley's  great  peace  hymn  was  set 


)ears  ago,  and  is  still,  we  ilimk,  com- 
monly  sting-,   as   it  was   sung  at   the 
opening  of    the   first    Boston    peac( 
niceting,  to  the  music  of  the  Russiav 
Ilvmn.     For  we  cannot  forget  that  i 
is 'to  Russia  thai  we  owe  the  inspira 
tion    of    the    great   peace   movemen 
vrhicli     is    now    sweeping    over    th( 
worKl.     It  is  not  the  only  thing  tha 
civihzation  owes  to  Russia  in  this  time 
Deep    in    the    Russian    nature,    deej 
withni  this   great  people  pusliing  it: 
wav  up  from  barbarism  and  tyranny 
to  'freedom  and   civihty,  there  seem; 
to  I:e  a  strenuous  and  superb  ideahsm 
111  that  most  nefarious  and  mischiev 
oris    of    poems,    "The    Truce     witl 
trie    Bear,"    Kiphng    has    sought    t( 
slrengthen    in    the    EngHsh    world    : 
fundamental   distrust   of  the   Russiai 
])cople.     Russia  is  a  treacherous  bear 
a  bear  trying  to  act  like  a  man,  bu 
doing   it  'treacherously,    for   a   bear' 
purposes.     We   may  perhaps   at  thi 
time  fairly  ask  ourselves  the  question 
v.l-.ich  is  in  tlie  more  hopeful  condi 
tion,  a  bear  that  is  trying  to  act  lik 
a  man  or  a  man  that  is  trying  to  ac 
like  a  bear.    But  we  will  not  press  th^ 
question.     This   at  any  rate   is  true 
tiiat  the  three  men  who  in  this  tim^ 
liave  done  the  greatest  service  for  th. 
world's  greatest  cause  are  all  of  then 
Russians,— Tolstoi,  Verestchagin  anc 
now  the  Czar.     Of  the  Czar's  sincer 
itv  and  deep  earnestness  in  his  pro 
posals  looking  towards  disarmamen 
and  the  permanent  peace  of  nation 
there  can   be  no  doubt  in   sane  an< 
noble  minds ;  and  those  proposals  ar 
of  a  character  likely  to  give  them  ai 
epoch-making  place  in   history.      O 
the  sincere  and  earnest  purpose  of  th 
Czar,  as  of  his  sagacity  and  farsight 
cdness,    we    have    noteworthy    assur 
ance  at  this  moment  in  the  words  o 
our  returning  ambassador,  Mr. Hitch 
cock;    and    the    countrymen    of    Mi 
Kipling — Englishmen  and  American 
alike  are  now  his  loving  countrymei 
— will   remember  how  clearly   Glad 
stone  saw  that  the  habit  of  distrust  c 
Russia  was  an  insanity  with  English 
men,   the  most  mischievous   insanit 


/ 


THE   PEACH   MOJ'EMENT   !N     Hi'STOX 


in  inodeni  liuropcan  politics,  and  liow 
sedulously  he  sought  during  the  last 
thirty  years  of  his  hfe  to  renioye  it. 
Earnest  and  sincere  or  not,  the  Czar's 
proposals  are  a  call,  and  in  response 
to  that  call  the  representatives  of  all 
the  nations  of  Christendom  v/iil  as- 
semble in  a  conference  which  neither 
Russia  nor  any  other  power  can 
dominate,  for  free  consideration  (<i  the 
world's  greatest  cu rsr  and  greatest 
hope. 

The  curse  of  militarism  rests  like  a 
paralysis  upon  every  nation  of  En- 
rope.  England  may  feel  it  least,  but 
how  appallingly  England  feels  it  ap- 
peared in  the  discussion  o\  the  army 
and  navy  budget  in  Parliament  on  the 
very  Saturday  before  the  first  Boston 
Monday  meeting.  Two  hundred  and 
forty  million  dollars  was  the  estimate 
for  British  army  and  navy  expenses 
for  the  next  fiscal  year.  "You  can't 
keep  up  a  splendid  empire  for 
nothing,"  said  Mr.  Balfom",  defending 
the  appropriations.  The  treasury  is 
at  its  wit's  ends  to  devise  fruitful  forms 
of  taxation,  a  tax  even  upon  wheat  and 
sugar,  the  staffs  of  life,  being  now 
meditated.  The  "bread  tax"  the 
newspapers  begin  to  talk  about. 
* 

America,  however,  does  not  have  to 
cast  her  eyes  across  the  sea  to  point 
morals  upon  the  curse  of  militarism. 
It  is  a  curse  which  threatens  our- 
selves; the  man  who  does  not  see  it 
and  is  not  spurred  as  an  American  and 
a  lover  of  America  to  new  devotion  to 
the  rational  organization  of  the  world 
is  a  fool  and  blind.  Ideas  and  stand- 
ards are  confessed  and  are  gaining 
headway  in  great  circles  of  our  people 
from  which  a  year  ago  every  man 
would  have  shrunk.  Good  men  think 
various  thoughts  about  the  recent  war 
with  Spain.  The  President,  the  Sec- 
retary of  State,  and  our  Minister  to 
Si)ain  all  felt  it,  as  all  have  told  us 
frankly,  to  be  wholly  unnecessary; 
tk.at  had  the  politicians  and  tlie  people 


vxercised   a   reasonable   patience   and 
self-control,  everything  which  we  de- 
manded and  in  the  name  of  humanity 
had  a  right  to   demand   could   have 
ijcen  secured  peacefully  instead  of  by 
the  horrors  of  battle  and  the  waste  uf 
half    a    billion    dollars.     Other    men 
think    the   war    was   inevitable.      But 
til  ink  variously  as  men  may  about  the 
recent  war  \vith  Si)ain,  it  is  hard  to 
bce  how  any  American  can  look  upon 
our  present  war  with  the  people  of  the 
Philippines     save     with     melancholy, 
horror  and  shame.     Claiming  to  de- 
sire to  h.clp  these  people  to  independ- 
ence   and    self-government,    we    have 
rutlilessly  mowed   down   and  broken 
the   prestige   and   the   ])ower   of   that 
])ody  of  the  people  which  alone  had 
vitality  and  capacity  to  develop  self- 
government,   which   had   waged  long 
and  heroic  resistance  to  the  Spanish 
oppression,  and  had  demonstrated  or- 
ganizing   talent    of    an    order    which 
commanded    tlie   respect   and    confi- 
dence of  every  democratic  man.    It  is 
llie  blackest  blot  upon  the  pages  Oi 
(var  history;  and  the  American  who, 
seeing  it  in  white  light,  does  not  de- 
nounce it  as  a  crime  is  not  a  patriot, 
not  true  to  the  republic  and  its  ideals. 
The    President    has   just    declared    in 
Boston  that  no  instinct  of  imperialism 
lurks    in    the    American    heart.      Yet 
.even  as  we  write,  the  chairman  of  the 
Congressional  Committee  on  Appro- 
priations,   reporting    how    we    have 
spent  our  half  billion  in  the  war,  pub- 
licly repudiates  for  himself,  and  ven- 
tures  the   prediction    that    the    next 
Congress    will    repudiate,    the    Presi- 
dent's  professed    idea   of   giving   the 
people   of   the    Philippines   the    inde- 
pendence they  desire.    "We  could  not 
if  v.-e  would,"  he  says,  "and  we  would 
not  if  we  could,  part  with  the  terri- 
tories   acquired    from    Spain."     This 
means     one     of     two     thines — that 
v/e  shall  incorporate  these  territories 
into  the  republic  or  that  we  shall  hold 
them   subject  to   the   republic.     This 
last    is   "imperialism."      There    is    no 
need  to  deal  with  the  term  gingerly ; 
it     simply   means   dominion     over    a 


77//:    J'R.ICE   MOl'EMENT   IN    r>OSTON. 


people  whom  we  deny  self-govern- 
ment— like  the  dominion  of  England 
in  India ;  it  makes  no  difference 
whether  the  "imperialism"  is  exer- 
cised by  an  empire,  a  kingdom,  or  a 
republic,  it  is  the  same  denial  of  self- 
government  to  a  people.  The  Presi- 
dent protests  tliat  no  thought  of  it 
lurks  in  the  American  lieart ;  but  the 
undeniable  fact  is  that  it  is  already  on 
thousands  of  American  lips,  and 
worse  things  \';ith  it.  The  most  influ- 
ential newspaper  in  New  England, 
which  not  a  year  ago  execrated  such 
doctrine,  has  recently  declared  tliat, 
remembering  the  struggles  of  the 
Poles,  the  Plungarians  and  the  Irish, 
and  our  own  struggle  a  hundred  years 
ago,  we  cannot  but  understand  and 
sympathize  with  the  Philippine  people 
in  their  struggle  for  independence,  but 
that  since  tliis  is  counter  to  our  inter- 
ests w-e  .m.ust  suppress  it.  The  same 
journal  has  also  gone  on  to  declare 
that,  if  the  partition  of  China  by  the 
powers  of  Europe  seems  at  any  time 
imminent,  we  must  not  fail  to  be  party 
to  it,  from  the  vantage  ground  of  the 
conquered  Philippines,  and  to  seize 
our  share,  which  share  would  be  a 
territory  with  seventy  million  people. 
This  doctrine  does  not  simply  "lurk  in 
the  heart,"  but  is  openly  proclaimed 
in  the  home  of  Samuel  Adams  and 
Charles  Sumner ;  and  there  is  prob- 
ably no  other  section  of  America 
where  it  is  not  proclaimed  more.  It 
is  fatuous  to  deny  these  things ;  it  is 
our  duty  to  meet  them  like  men.  It  is 
most  fatuous  of  all  not  to  see  that 
what  has  given  license  and  momen- 
tum to  doctrines  so  opposed  to  the 
spirit  of  our  American  republic  and 
to  what  we  have  all  hitherto  agreed  to 
praise  is  the  militarism  of  the  year  and 
the  "headiness"  resulting  from  spec- 
tacular and  easily  successful  war.  A 
year  ago  there  was  not  a  senator  at 
Washington  nor  a  boy  in  thc^  schools 
who  would  not,  as  matter  of  course, 
have  referred  to  the  partition  of  Po- 
land a  century  ago,  by  the  powers 
v.'hich  preyed  upon  her,  as  a  colossal 
crime.     If  it  shall  by  and  by  appear 


that,  with  phrases  against  "imperial 
ism"  and  professions  of  zeal  for  self 
government  on  the  lip,  the  govern 
ment  of  this  republic  is  really  servinj. 
the  progranmie  of  militarism  and  seiz 
ure  and  subjugation,  permitting  thi: 
America  to  swing  into  line  with  tin 
hoary  iniquities  of  the  past,^  the  his 
torian  of  a  century  lience  must  sum 
mon  stronger  v.ords  than  those  whicl 
have  served  for  the  crime  against  Po 
land  to  characterize  our  crime;  for  wi 
shall  have  sinned  against  greater  ligh 
and  have  betrayed  a  greater  trust 
And  in  this  thing  let  every  one  of  U; 
remember  that  plain  word  of  Hose; 
Eiglo">\'s : 

"Guv'ment  ain't  to  answer  for  it; 
God  '11  send  the  bill  to  j'ou." 

For  in  a  republic,  "the  government' 
is  what  we  let  it  be.  "We,  the  peopl 
of  the  United  States,"  are  the  govern 
ment  of  the  government;  and  we,  th 
people,     must     ultimately     bear     th 

praise  or  blame. 

* 
*     * 

For  our  own  part,  we  have  faith  ii 
the  American  people  and  that  their  re 
turning  sobriety  and  common  sens( 
to  say  nothing  of  their  nobility,  wil 
quickly  check  the  militarism  whic 
for  the  moment  has  got  rein  and  im 
pulse.  The  sharp  criticism  in  Con 
gress  itself  of  the  army  and  navy  bill; 
and  the  considerable  reduction  of  th 
estimates  and  proposals,  is  one  sign  c 
the  returning  sobriety ;  and  the  laugl 
ter  at  Cecil  Rhodes's  sober  propos 
tion  that  we  should  subjugate  an 
annex  South  America  is  anothe' 
Laughter  at  such  things  will  help  o 
laughter,  and  shame  as  well,  at  prop 
ositions  not  quite  so  swollen.  We  b( 
lieve  that  no  political  party  will  eve 
venture  to  face  the  American  peopl 
in  a  general  election  with  a  pre 
gramme  of  militarism.  We  believ 
that  the  popular  heart  will  respond  t 
the  call  which  now  goes  forth  for  sei 
vice  in  the  cause  of  peace  and  the  oi 
ganization  of  the  world ;  and  we  ma 
remember   with    encouragement    thj 


THE   PEACE   MOVEMENT   IN    BOSTON. 


the  same  call,  which  is  now  waking  so 
marvellous  a  response  in  England, 
found  England  also  in  a  spasm  of 
military  revival,  jingoism  and  impe- 
rialism. 


The  duty  of  America  to  fvov/n  upon 
military  policies  and  the  military  spirit 
is  peculiar.  America  in  truth  holds 
the  key  to  the  situation.  John  liright 
pointed  this  out  clearly  in  a  Fourth 
of  July  speech  twenty  years  ago. 
America,  not  burdened  by  taxes  for 
the  support  of  great  armies  and 
navies,  was  free  to  devote  all  her  re- 
sources and  energies  to  the  develop- 
ment of  her  industries.  This  gave  her 
an  incalculable  advantage  over  the 
burdened  countries  of  Europe,  an  ad- 
vantage which  every  one  of  them  was 
feeling  keenly.  Let  her  maintain  this 
advantage  in  the  industrial  competi- 
tion, and  they  would  all  soon  be 
breed  to  disarmament  for  sheer  econ- 
omy and  self-protection.  Did  not  the 
-eccnt  word  of  Prince  Radziwill,  a 
vvord  so  nervously  explained  away, 
mean  the  same  thing?  It  cannot  be 
:hat  America  will  recklessly  abandon 
1  position  in  which  she  can  steadily 
;onmiand  the  world  to  peace  and  elfi- 
;ient  industrial  organization,  and  con- 
sent to  meet  old  tyrannies  on  their 
Dwn  terms  and  in  their  service. 


Half  a  century  ago,  Charles  Sum- 
ler,  speaking  in  Tremont  Temple, 
:old  America,  in  words  never  to  be 
•orgotten  nor  escaped,  wherein  lies 
:he  true  grandeur  of  nations.  In 
Sumner's  Massachusetts,  from  Sum- 
ner's time  to  George  E.  Hoar's,  the 
^reat  leaders  of  the  peoi)lc  have  been 
Tue  to  Sumner's  gospel.  We  believe 
:hat  the  people  of  Massachusetts  and 
Mew  England  and  th.e  country  will  be 
true  to  it  to-day  as  they  hear  the  call 
io  make  themselves  felt  in  the^  great 
movement  which  is  shaking  Europe 
and  which  promises  to  do  more  than 
my  other  movement  in  history  to  has- 


ten llie  tin-.e  u'hen  llie  swords  shall  bi 
beaten  into  ploughshares. 


We  said  that  the  great  cause  had 
found  voice  in  Boston,  and  had  also 
fiiund  a  book.  It  is  a  singular  good 
t'urlune  by  v/hich  at  this  precise  mo- 
ment appears  Dr.  Trueblood's  book 
on  "The  Eederalion  of  the  World." 
Dr.  'J^-ueblood's  services  in  .Vmerica 
for  tlie  cause  of  peace  and  interna- 
tional fraternity  have  been  inmiense. 
"The  xAdvocate  of  Peace,"  which  he 
■edits  with  such  distinguished  ability, 
ought  to  be  every  month  on  the  table 
of  everv  thoughtful  man  in  the  coun- 
try, whatever  else  is  tlicrc  or  is  not 
there.  His  pami)hlcts  on  ihc  history 
i.f  arbitration  and  related  subjects  are 
tlie  best  which  there  are.  No  other 
translation  of  Kant's  "Eternal  Peace" 
is  so  good  as  his.  But  in  this  little 
book  (Houghton,  Mifflin  and  Com- 
pany, Boston,  ipi.oo)  he  covers  the 
vvhole  ground  in  brief.  The  ten  chap- 
ters treat:  The  Solidarity  of  Human- 
ity, Solidarity  Unrealized,  The  Causes 
of  the  Disunity,  The  Development  of 
the  War  System,  The  Influence  of 
Christianity  in  restoring  the  Federa- 
tive Principle,  War  EtViically  Wrong, 
War  Anti-Federative,  The  New 
World  Society,  The  Growing  Tri- 
umph of  Arbitmtion,  and  The  United 
States  of  the  World.  An  appendix 
contains  the  Czar's  rescript,  calling  for 
the  conference  on  reduction  of  arma- 
ments ;  and  seven  pages  are  given  to 
a  bibliography  of  the  .most  important 
publications  relating  to  the  federa- 
tion of  the  world.  We  wish  that  it 
were  po.ssible  to  illustrate  here,  by 
passages  from  successive  cha])tcrs,  the 
broad  range,  the  wisdom  and  the  vi- 
tality of  this  timely  book ;  but  this  is 
iu)l  '  here  possible.  One  pregnant 
passage  from  the  striking  chapter  on 
"TheX^nited  States  of  the  World"  we 
give,  as  an  interesting  forecast  of  the 
steps  by  which  the  'better  organiza- 
tion of  the  world  may  ultimately  come 
about: 


niR   PEACE   MOrEMENT   L\^    BOSTON. 


7 


\long  what  lines  the  movement  toward 
,         general   world   government    will    take 
Pidce  it  is  not  easy  to  forecast,  except  in  a 
general    way.    Two    or    three    courses    are 
open,  any  one  or  all  of  which  may  be  fol- 
lowed.   The  United  States  of  America  may 
in    ii.i..^'  become    really    such.      The    very 
...-me    seems    to    be    prophetic.      Canada. 
]\Iexico   and    Central    America   may    some 
day,  of  their  own  accord,  ask  to  be  admit- 
ted  into   a   federal   union   v/ith   the   United 
States.     In  time  a  great  South  American 
republic     of    republics     may     be     formed, 
through    some    movement    or    groups    of 
movements    akin    lo    that     already     taking 
place  among  the  Central  American  states 
and  the  British  Australian  colonies.     Then 
may  follow  --^  federation  of  the  tv.-o  Amer- 
ican continentb.    The  United  Stales  of  Eu- 
rope,  so   long   dreamed  of  and   written   of 
by   European   reformers,   seem  to-day  but 
the   shadow   of   a   name;    but   whoever   rc- 
membe.*   the   history  of  the  consolidation 
of   France,   or   Italy,   or   Germany,   or   the 
still   more  remarkable  history  of  the  con- 
solidation of  the  owiss  cantons  composed 
of  peoples  of  diiTerent  races,  speaking  dif- 
ferent 'anguages,  into  a  coherent  national 
federati>m.    will    not    say    that    a    United 
States  of  Europe  is  an   impossibility.     On 
the  I   mtrary,  the  whole  course  of  the  mod- 
ern history  of  nation-building  foreshadows 
a  European  federat-ion.     The  continent  of 
Asia    liay  some  day  have  a  like  transfor- 
mation;  and   that   of  Africa,  too,   renewed 
at  last  by  a  Christian  civilization;  and  that 
of  Australia  before  either  of  them,   if  one 
may  judge  from   the  federative   tendencies 
already    showing    themselves    between    the 
colonies  there.     If  this  should  prove  to  be 
the   way    in    which    the    world    state    is    to 
work  itself  out,  the  islands  of  the  sea  will 
group   themselves   in   with   the   continental 
federations    where    they    naturally    belong 
At   last    these   continental    federations    will 
flow   together   into   a   great   world   federa- 
tion, the  final  political   destiny  of  human- 
ity, where  all  the  larger  hopes  of  love  and 
fellowship,   of  peace  and  happy  prosperity 
lie.      I   do   not   pretend   to   assert   that  the 
actual  order  of  movement  will  be  as  here 
outlined,   but  only   that   this  is  a  possible, 
perhaps    a    probable    order    in    which    the 
federation  of  the  world  v/ill  come,  at  least 
in  part.     This  forecast  is  in  harmony  with 
actual  historic  processes  now  working,  and 
having  for  generations  worked,  at  several 
points  in  civilized  society. 

"Another  course  is  possible.  A  great 
racial  federation,  as  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
people,  may  come  first,  with  its  centres  of 
agglomeration  in  all  parts  of  the  world, 
which  will  gather  to  itself  by  an  irresistible 
moral  gravitation  all  other  peoples.  Ra- 
cial federation  is  already  playing  its  part 
very  powerfully  in  the  processes  of  civiliza- 
tion.    Several  races,  it  is  true,  are  exhib- 


iting, in  greater  or  less  degree,  kindred 
phenomena.  But  racial  distinctions  are  in 
many  respects  beginning  to  break  down, 
because  of  the  intermingling  of  peoples  in 
all  quarters  of  the  globe.  What  may  be 
styled  the  universal  human  characteristics, 
those  belonging  to  the  one  race  of  man 
lying  at  the  basis  of  all  sub-races,  are 
d'e-ti'.ied  ihu?  more  and  more  to  come  to 
the  front  as  against  those  which  have 
marked  ofif  one  portion  of  mankind  from 
another.  That  race,  whichever  it  may 
prove  to  be,  which  develops  these  general 
human  characteristics  most  fully  and  most 
rapidly,  and  throws  off  most  completely  all 
tl-.at  is  advenriiious  and  unessential,  will, 
in  the  nature  of  the  case,  prove  to  be  the 
nucleus  or  furnish  the  nuclei  about  which 
civilization  in  all  parts  of  the  world  will 
crvstalHze.  Men  will  not  care  at  last  by 
what  racial  name  they  are  called,  or  what 
language  thev  speak,  provided  their  high- 
est interests  of  every  kind  are  served.  They 
will  feel  it  more  noble  to  be  men  and  to 
soeak  the  one  universal  language  of  men 
than  to  be  Englishmen  or  Germans  or 
Frenchmen,  and  to  speak  any  of  these 
great  tongues.  Whatever  race  shall  prove 
itself  fittest  to  lead  in  this  federative 
process,  whether  the  Anglo-Saxon,  as  now 
■seems  possible,  or  some  other,  will  itself  be 
modified,  purified  and  strengthened  for  its 
work  as  the  final  world  race  by  what  it 
receives  from  the  races  which  it  draws  to 
itself,  and  even  from  those  which  through 
weakness  shall  finally  be  eliminated." 

Dr.  Trueblood's  book  is  the  book  of 
books  for  the  crtisade  which  is  now 
being-  inatts^ttrated  amon^  us ;  and  it 
shottkl  be  circulated  by  the  thousands. 
It  is  a  book  of  hope  and  confidence. 
x'Vfter  ah  the  long-  and  dark  survey  of 
history  and  sober  estimate  of  present 
facts,  the  last  word  is  the  word  of  one 
to  whom  the  federation  of  the  world 
is  already  in  sight;  and  we  can  close 
with  no  better  word:  "The  great  idea 
of  a  world  federation  in  some  form  has 
gotten  clearly  into  men's  minds.  It  is 
too  powerful,  too  attractive  and  in- 
spiring to  be  resisted.  All  obstacles 
to  its  realization  will  be  broken  down, 
if  not  to-morrow,  then  afterwards. 
Hov/  soon,  will  depend  largely  on  the 
purpose,  the  intelligence,  the  heart, 
which  those  already  possessed  of  the 
great  idea  shall  put  into  the  work  oi 
reconstructing  and  reorganizing  hu- 
manitv  on  a  world  basis." 


ORGANIZE  THE  WORLD. 

KANT'S  -'ETERNAL  PEACEr 

CHARLES     SUMNER'S    MORE'    EXCEL- 
LENT WAY. 

By  I<:i)\viN  D.  Mead.  Three  Tracts  in  behalf  of 
permanent  peace.  3  cents  per  copy,  $1.50  per 
hundred  copies,  $10  per  thousand.  Peace  Crusade 
Coininitkw   i   Beacon  Street,  Boston. 


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